Preparing for Your Colour Appointment
Preparing for Your Colour Appointment.
Your colour appointment isn’t just about picking finishes — it’s where your home starts to take shape. But with limited time, multiple consultants, and hundreds of decisions, it can quickly become overwhelming if you’re not ready. This guide helps you walk in prepared, confident, and clear on what matters most — so you can walk out with no regrets.
Because building shouldn't feel risky.
Create a Mood Board to Define Your Vision
A mood board is an essential tool in interior design, serving as a visual representation of your desired aesthetic. It helps consolidate your ideas, ensuring clarity and consistency throughout your design process.
Steps to Create an Effective Mood Board:
- Define Your Concept: Consider the atmosphere you want to create in each space.
Ask yourself: What emotions should this room evoke? Are there specific styles or themes you're drawn to? - Gather Inspiration:
Use Pinterest, Instagram, Houzz, display homes, and sample rooms.
Also collect fabric swatches, tiles, paint chips and physical samples where possible. - Curate Your Selections: Choose items that align with your concept — materials, finishes, colours, furniture styles, and textures.
- Arrange Your Board: Lay it out in a way that reflects the overall look and feel. Group things by mood, colour or room.
- Review and Refine: Step back and check for consistency. If something clashes or doesn’t feel right, update it.
Why This Matters:
- Clarity: You’ll make faster decisions with less stress when you have a visual direction in front of you.
- Consistency: Keeps every selection in line with the bigger picture, even if you’re dealing with multiple people or suppliers.
- Confidence: Your home will feel more intentional and polished — because you had a plan.
A mood board doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to help you picture the end result before you walk into your colour appointment. It’s your personal design compass — and one of the best ways to avoid costly second-guessing.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Know What You Want Before You Walk In
The more time you’ve spent in the builder’s colour showroom, the smoother your appointment will be. You want to walk in already knowing what you want — not trying to figure it out on the fly.
Here’s what you should lock in ahead of time:
- External materials – brick, render, roof, windows, garage door
- Kitchen layout and finishes
- Flooring, cabinetry, benchtops, and splashbacks
- Tapware, basins, lighting style and feature upgrades
Don’t assume you’re working with a cohesive interior design team — in most cases, you're seeing supplier reps. You may speak to 7–10 different people across different appointments. Many of them won't talk to each other.
This is why it’s so important to have a strong personal vision and to include as much as possible in your estimate upfront — it reduces sticker shock and lets you focus on detail, not damage control.
Also remember — you’re on a fixed schedule. Colour day flies. I often say it’s like a wedding day — it goes by in a blur. Show up early, stay focused, and make sure your plan is tight before you get there.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
See It on a Grander Scale
Small samples don’t tell the full story. What looks great on a swatch or A4 board can feel completely different when spread across a full room or façade.
Here’s what I recommend:
- Bricks: Don’t judge off a single block. Go see the brick on an actual home — ideally in sunlight and shadow — and from a distance.
- Laminate finishes: Before choosing a sample, find a full kitchen that uses it — either in a showroom or online. It will feel very different when used floor to ceiling.
- Paint colours: Swatches are the biggest trap. A sample card isn’t the same as a painted wall. Either choose colours you’ve seen in a display home, or buy a test tin and paint a proper board at home.
What you’re choosing might feel safe or bold on the board — but on a full surface, it will amplify. Always think in context. How will this look across a whole space? In natural light? Next to other finishes?
Don’t leave it to chance. Seeing things at scale is one of the easiest ways to avoid regret.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Think Practical First in Bathrooms
It’s easy to get caught up in Pinterest boards and pretty tiles — but functionality is what you’ll live with every day. When you're choosing bathroom fixtures and fittings, ask yourself: will this be easy to use and easy to clean?
- Back-to-wall toilets: These make cleaning dramatically easier — no more dust behind the pan or awkward gaps near skirting tiles.
- Wall-mounted taps: Not only do they look clean and modern, they free up bench space and make daily cleaning far simpler.
- Face-level storage: Shaving cabinets are hugely underrated. They hide power points, reduce bench clutter, and give you more functional space where you actually use it.
- Shower tap placement: Don’t place the handle directly under the shower head — you’ll be soaked every time you turn it on. Always keep it offset or near the entrance.
Ultimately, it comes down to practicality before aesthetics. A beautiful space that frustrates you every day is not a win.
If this is your first time building, it’s completely normal to miss these kinds of details — and that’s exactly why services like mine exist. You shouldn’t have to learn the hard way.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Design for the Way You Actually Live
It’s easy to get swept up in displays, social media inspiration, and glossy finishes — but what matters most is how your home works when you’re actually living in it.
Before you fall in love with a finish, ask yourself: how will this hold up with your lifestyle?
- Got kids? High-gloss cabinetry will show every fingerprint. Matte or textured finishes hide marks better.
- Planning pets? Choose flooring that can handle claws and doesn’t scratch easily. A light tile with grout might be a better option than engineered timber in key areas.
- Hate cleaning? Wall-mounted taps are easier to clean. Back-to-wall toilets mean no awkward gaps. Micro or rectified tiles reduce grout lines and maintenance.
- Want it to last? Choose colours and textures that are timeless. That trending green splashback might age fast. A warm neutral might serve you better long term.
Design choices aren’t just about what looks good on colour day — they’re about how it’ll feel to live with them every single day.
If you’re not sure, ask yourself this: “Would I love this if it had scuff marks, dirty hands, or wet towels thrown on it?” If not — keep looking.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Air Conditioning Is Usually Underquoted and Misunderstood
Air conditioning is one of the most misrepresented and poorly explained inclusions in the home-building process. It’s often listed as a “tick box” — but in reality, it’s one of the biggest comfort (and cost) factors in your home.
As a rough guide: 1 kilowatt of cooling per builder square is needed to effectively condition a space. So if you're building a 50 square home, a 20kW system just isn’t going to cut it.
Questions to ask now — not later:
- Do I have enough zones to section off the parts of the home I’ll want to cool or heat simultaneously?
- Will my system actually deliver adequate pressure to all rooms — or will I be running it full blast and still sweating?
- What are my tolerances to heating and cooling? Do I like a tightly controlled indoor climate, or can I be flexible?
- Do I need three-phase power for this setup? Has it been included up front?
- Does the system offer filtration, automation, or smart zoning — or is that all extra?
- Have I considered noise levels from both the indoor vents and outdoor unit?
If you’re considering evaporative cooling — especially in a double-storey home — ask yourself: “Am I aware of its limitations?”
Evaporative cooling tends to perform poorly upstairs and relies heavily on outdoor airflow and low humidity to work effectively. It may still be a valid option if you're building to a tight budget — but you need to understand what you're getting.
Air con isn't something you just “add later” — it’s structural, it’s expensive, and it directly affects liveability. If comfort matters to you, it should be planned early and properly — not guessed at during the build.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Where to Spend vs Save
When budgets are tight — and they usually are — you need to ask one simple question: How hard would it be to change this after handover?
Every finish you pick today will feel a bit dated in 10 years. But some things can be swapped easily — others will cost you thousands.
- Prioritise: Bricks, windows, doors, roofline profiles — these are locked in forever. Changing them later is near impossible.
- Think long-term: Bathroom tiles are messy and expensive to redo. Kitchen layout is structural. Get it right now.
- Hold back on: Tapware, cabinet handles, paint colours — these are surface-level changes that can be updated down the track.
- Reframe upgrades: A $3K stone benchtop feels big — but it’s far easier to upgrade later than rectifying an awkward floorplan or bad tile layout.
Spend your money scaled by the difficulty to fix post-handover. What you live with every day is rarely just about surface — it’s about function, permanence, and cost to change.
If it’s built in — treat it like it’s there forever. That’s where your budget should go first.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
When in Doubt, Go With Your Gut
It’s easy to fall into the habit of nodding along with the expert — the supplier, the consultant, the builder. But the truth is: they’re not you.
What bothers you may not bother them. What you notice, they might overlook. You’re the one living in this home — so your preferences, priorities and instincts should lead the way.
If something feels off, trust yourself. If you can’t visualise it or don’t love it, say something. You don’t need to justify it. Your gut is your most honest filter.
A great home isn’t just well-designed — it feels right to the person living in it. So when in doubt, go with what feels right to you.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Looking for land in an Estate instead?
This guide covers land in knock down rebuild — but if you're purchasing within an estate:
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Need Expert Help Getting Colour Ready?
Explore How Our Colour Support Can Help You Prepare with Clarity and Confidence.